From the Republican Herald: Shenandoah PNCC to close doors
SHENANDOAH – Before a crowd of less than 20 on hand for Mass Sunday morning at Holy Ghost Polish National Catholic Church, the pastor announced it would be the last Mass at the 91-year-old 28 N. Chestnut St. house of worship.
“As you know, nobody is getting younger, but older. And the time came when the parishioners who took care of the parish decided we have to do something because they cannot simply bear all the burdens to take care of this parish,” the Rev. Robert P. Plichta said in remarks at the end of the service.
The church was built in 1923.
At 11 a.m. Tuesday, the bishop of the Central Diocese of the Polish National Catholic Church, Scranton, The Rt. Rev. Bernard Nowicki, is scheduled to deconsecrate the church, Plichta said.
“So, this is our last Sunday holy sacrifice of the Mass,” Plichta said.
Last year, the parish committee decided the church would close in 2014, according to committee Chairman Joseph Petrusky, 83, of Catawissa.
“In the Polish National Catholic Church, as you know, it’s a custom that deeds of the parish properties belong to the people, not to the bishop. Therefore, the bishop cannot close any of the churches. It is the people’s decision,” Plichta said.
“The parishioners own the church. And we decided to sell it. We’re low on parishioners. I think there are only five people who come who pay dues, and that’s not enough to keep it going,” Petrusky said.
On Saturday night, Plichta estimated there are “about 13” parishioners.
The parish committee is planning to sell the building to the Shenandoah Mennonite Church, which is headquartered at 239 W. Centre St., Petrusky said.
Representatives of the Shenandoah Mennonite Church could not be reached for comment Sunday.
“They want a bare church, nothing inside. So we have to take everything out. We’re hoping to have everything out by the end of March or the first week of April,” Petrusky said.
Petrusky said statues and icons will be donated to other Polish National churches across the country. But the churches that want them will have to make the arrangements and pay for shipping, he said.
Giving an example, Plichta said the main altar, the side altar and the high-relief icons depicting the Stations of the Cross will be donated to Guardian Angel Polish National Catholic Church in Los Angeles, Calif.
Holy Ghost parish in Shenandoah was established in 1922, the pastor said.
Early in the 1920s residents of Shenandoah turned for guidance and advice to the Most Rev. Franciszek Hodur in Scranton. An organizational meeting was held in May 1922 in the presence of the Rev. Leon Grochowski and the Rev. Jan Gritenas who helped to organize the Holy Ghost Polish National Catholic Church, according to the parish website at www.holyghostpncc.org
“The church records state that the first Mass was celebrated in the Russian Hall on Centre Street by the Rev. Stanisł‚aw Cybulski and for the first time the Mass was celebrated in the Polish language. Later, property was bought at West Lloyd and Chestnut Streets and a church was built and dedicated in December 1923,” according to the website.
“Father Stanley Cybulski was the first pastor of this congregation and, unfortunately, I am the last one. Something was born and something is going to the end,” Plichta said.
Plichta became pastor Nov. 1, 2003.
“I never thought that I’d be with you only 10 years and a few months,” Plichta said in remarks at the end of the service.
Among the people in the congregation Sunday morning were representatives of three generations of the Mallick family, who attended the church for more than 60 years.
They included Claire Cichocki, 88, who married George Mallick on Feb. 18, 1950. Their wedding was at the church.
“My father hand-did these railings. He hand-welded those,” Pamela Mallick Klitsch, 55, of Tamaqua, daughter of Claire and George, said Sunday. She was referring to the chain-like railings flanking the stone steps at the church’s entrance.
George Mallick died in a vehicle accident in May 1964. His funeral Mass was held at the church.
Claire and George Mallick had two children, Pamela and Theodore “Teddy” Mallick, 58, Harrisburg, who was also at the church on Sunday.
Pamela married Mark Klitsch in Oct. 26, 1985, in the church. The couple have two children, Janelle, 26, and Shawn, 25
Peg Rejent, Lake Wynonah, also was at the church on Sunday. She said her grandfather, a Polish immigrant named Joseph Kowalonek, was one of the first parishioners.
As Plichta and altar server Joseph Karvois, 12, of Shenandoah, ended in the church, Rejent put a tissue to her eyes.
“At one time, the church here was a community. The people here were not just parishioners. They were family. I’m sad about this because my whole family grew up here,” Rejent said.
“Many of you received all the sacraments in this parish. This will be your parish forever. This will be our parish forever, because you cannot wipe from your soul the Holy Ghost Church and you cannot wipe from your soul and minds the Holy Ghost Church parishioners,” Plichta said.
Plichta is also pastor of St. John the Baptist Polish National Catholic Church, 14 W. Oak St., Frackville. He invited the members of Holy Ghost Parish to worship at the Frackville church.
The Polish National Catholic Church was born in the late 19th century when Polish immigrants in the United States, at odds with the Roman Catholic Church on several issues, including what they saw as a lack of Polish bishops and lack of representation in the church, according to the website www.pgsa.org.
“In Scranton … a parish delegation of Polish anthracite miners and factory workers, who made up the congregation of the large and imposing Sacred Heart Church to which they had contributed hard-earned funds, requested lay representation in parish affairs. They were refused. A group then tried to block entrance of the priest into the church. The diocesan bishop called the police and a riot developed. Fifty-two persons were arrested.
“Within weeks, the alienated groups organized a new parish and a few months later purchased land for a new church. They invited a young Polish-born priest, Father Francis Hodur, who had already endeared himself by participating in social work, publishing one of the first parish newspapers, and otherwise showing his concern for their welfare, to accept leadership of their flock. It was a fateful decision for him and he knew it, but on March 21, 1897, he celebrated Mass for them in the basement of the unfinished structure that was to become St. Stanislaus, mother church of the new movement,” according to the website.